Further information on the types of barcodes in South Africa

South African Barcodes - Types of Barcodes that you can buy online:

Since the invention of the computer, as technology advanced and demand for simplicity increased, so various types of barcodes were invented to assist with the various processes within the retail sector. Some barcodes store information, some are used for retail products, some to keep stock of items, and the list goes on. There are numerous types of barcodes, but let’s take a look at the most commonly used South African barcodes.﻿﻿1. Retail BarcodesAll general retail products will require a Gs1 barcode in order to be sold at any retail store in South Africa. Retail barcodes come in two formats: the 13-digit EAN, and the 12-digit UPC codes. Which format you ultimately use will depend on the point of sale system of the store you are stocking. In most cases though, and in the case of Buy Barcodes South Africa, we will issue you with both formats – just in case. Some examples of products include (but are not limited to) food items, clothing items, CDs or DVDs, appliances, etc.

2. Asset BarcodesAsset barcodes are a format of barcode that is used specifically to keep track and stock of your inventory. They are used mostly in the shipping, distribution and storage industry, and cannot be used as a replacement for retail barcodes – you won’t be able to sell your products in stores with these. The barcode symbology is called a Code 128 – a high density code that can be made up of numbers and letters, or just numbers.

3. Case BarcodesCase barcodes are similar to asset labels in that they are used for storage, but that’s where the similarities end. Otherwise known as ITF-14 barcodes, case barcodes work together with retail barcodes, and are actually generated from the very retail barcode they work with. Let’s say for example you stock retailers with red coffee mugs. When transporting all your mugs to the stores, you put them in boxes of 20. The case barcode will be the barcode that goes on the box that is carrying all the mugs. Note though, that the case barcode will not pass as a retail barcode, and so cannot go through a point of sale system to be sold to a customer. They are used purely for storage and distribution of general retail items.

4. Book BarcodesIf you have published a book, novel, or once-off publication, you may think you can just get an ordinary South African barcode for retail products, but that is not the case. What you need here is an ISBN – a barcode made specifically for books and once-off publications. An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) can only be sourced from and issued by the National Library of South Africa. They will log the information of your book onto their systems, so that a permanent record of all books can be kept of the database for safekeeping.

5. Magazine/Newspaper BarcodesBarcodes for magazines, newspapers or serial (recurring) publications are similar to barcodes for books in that you are also only able to acquire them through the National Library of South Africa. ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) barcodes work for specifically for items that come out with a new issue – be it daily, weekly, monthly or annually. The ISSN will include an issue number for each publication that comes out, since of course none of the issues will be exactly the same.

6. QR CodesQR Codes are one of the latest inventions in the barcoding industry, and were originally used to track vehicles during the manufacturing process. Nowadays, QR Codes have become extremely common and effective in consumer marketing and advertising. When scanned, the QR code is able to redirect the user to various URLs or data such as a web page – which of course can contain any kind of information the advertiser wishes: product pages, contact information, a coupon, etc. You can be as creative as you like. One its biggest convenience lies in its fast accessibility – it takes just seconds to scan and load a web page, as opposed to manually typing in a URL and losing out on customers who thrive on instant gratification.

FOR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR SALES TEAM. THEY ARE STANDING BY TO TAKE YOUR CALL, AND ARE HAPPY TO ASSIST YOU WITH ANY BARCODING PROBLEMS YOU MAY HAVE. WE WISH YOU A PLEASANT BARCODING EXPERIENCE, FROM THE BUYBARCODES TEAM.